Earthflower
by Feuille en Argents
Summary: post Things Change. There was a reason that Terra didn't want to rejoin the Titans. There were reasons for all of her actions. But now part of her old past has come back to haunt her, and it will take both Slade and the Titans this time to help her.
1. Chapter 1: Ponderings

**A/N: Well, here you go. The first chappie. Hope you all like it. -FA**

**Disclaimer: (sighs) I don't own Teen Titans. Yet. But one day I shall take Cartoon Network as my own and the best show ever shall be brought back to life for another season...MUAHAHAHA!**

**On with the story!**

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Earthflower

Chapter 1: Ponderings

He didn't get it. That blond girl had definitely been Terra, he was sure of it. But why hadn't she wanted to come back to the Titans, who were supposed to be her friends? Why did she deny her identity? What happened to her powers? And above all, how had she come back to life? There were many things that Beast Boy didn't understand in life, and Terra was one of them.

The green changeling ran as fast as he could out of Murakami High School. There was nothing he could do now. For some reason, Terra wouldn't come back to the Titans, to him. He didn't know why, and that's what caused his poor self so much grief.

Beast Boy let the tears fall as he dashed through the metal gates separating the High School from the rest of the city life. Outside the school's boundaries he leaned against the iron fence and closed his eyes.

_Well, what did you expect, Beast Boy?_ A voice inside his head was telling him. _After what happened, did you just expect her to come back with a smile on her face to your open arms? She betrayed you all, remember? That girl's got to have some guilt. And she _hated_ her powers. Maybe she just wanted to live a normal life. _Everything still hurt, though.

One of the spikes on the fence was starting to dig into his back. Beast Boy turned around and stole one last glance at Murakami School before morphing into an eagle and flying off into the sky, headed for the one place he called home. He knew that there were people who needed him more than Terra did, apparently, at the moment.

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Tara Johnson, formerly known as Terra of the Teen Titans, stared out the wide glass window of her Geometry classroom. She watched Beast Boy fly off into the distance. It would have been a beautiful day if not for her current situation.

"Ms. Johnson?"

Tara was torn from her daydream.

"Tara, if you have completed your test, might I suggest bringing it up to me?" The stern eyes of her Geometry teacher, Mrs. Larson, bored right into Tara's being.

The blond teenage girl turned bright red in the face as she snapped her gaze back to the paper resting on the surface of her desk.

She couldn't concentrate. How could she, after all that had happened? After seeing Beast Boy again, after turning him down, after all that pretending to not know him…It felt like she was running away from him all over again. She felt horrible. And what was worse, she could tell by the way he looked at her that he knew who she was. Tara almost considered running out of class right now to head to the Tower and apologize. But of course she knew that she just couldn't. She would endanger them all.

Tara wasn't entirely sure of who she was these days. After being imprisoned in that stone form for so long she had gained new memories of herself, memories of seemingly another life. New emotions had been released as well, and she gained outstanding new knowledge. But after remembering all of this, a new fear struck her as well. She didn't want to remember anything about her first life and how she got like this.

All this time she could have been someone else, a different girl living a different life. She would have had a different family and different friends. She wouldn't have even had her powers. She would never have had to run away from home and she would never have met the Titans. She would never have betrayed them. Tara probably would have still been living with _him_ to this day if _it_ hadn't have happened.

But none of this mattered right now. All that mattered was to stay away from _him_ at all costs and to avoid being caught by _them_. If she had rejoined the Titans, then it would have been all too easy for these people to find her.

In the meantime, she was trying to start a new life, a third one. This time she would get it right, without anybody fighting or getting hurt. While in hiding she would try to forget the past, but this was proving to be in despicably hard. The reality of it all was that her past was a part of her, whether she liked it or not.

Who was she, anyway? Tara, Terra, or-

The bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of the school day as well as the period.

_Shoot_, Tara thought. She still hadn't even begun her math test. She scribbled down a few guesses as she raced out the door. The test didn't matter much, anyway. She was already failing this class and besides, she had bigger problems to worry about.

xxxxxxxxxx

A masked man sat in his chair before many computer screens. Every single one of the screens showed the same image: Three teenage girls, apparently friends, chatting in a school's courtyard. One girl was a fiery redhead with a face full of freckles. Another was a tall African-American girl. The third was a skinny blond. They all wore the same uniform of a pleated navy skirt, a white blouse, a black tie, and black Mary-Jane shoes with white knee socks.

Slade zoomed in on the blond girl. A close-up portrayed two deep, crystal-blue eyes.

The man smiled beneath his black and orange mask. He had found her. Which probably meant that soon the others would be searching for the girl as well. She was in danger.

Slade zoomed back out into a view of all three girls as he leaned back in his throne-like chair and listened in to their conversation.

"So I was like, 'No way! Ashley would never go out with you,'" The African-American girl was saying, "I hope you don't mind, Ash."

"Mind? You saved my life, Liz. I could never have dealt with that situation on my own like that," The redhead, who apparently was named Ashley, replied.

The blond girl, though, was just standing there the whole time, nodding at everything her friends were saying without much thought.

Liz frowned. "Tara, you're not still thinking about that Green Brat Boy, are you?"

"Oh, no," Tara replied quickly, forcing a smile on her troubled face. "Just, um, you know, that test last period was really hard." The other girls shrugged and continued their conversation.

Slade began to think. _So Terra remembers everything now_, he thought. _She turned down Beast Boy's invitation to join back up with the Teen Titans again because she knows what will become of her if she does._ He knew that Terra knew if she went back with the Titans, not only would he be able to find her, but so wouldmany others who were even more of a threat to her. Even so, staying at that school and at the home of her foster parents wouldn't help much, either. He had found her, hadn't he? He would protect her better this time. He was not prepared to lose the girl again. Old memories were starting to form in the man's mind, but he shook them away.

Slade turned back to watch the monitors, a plan forming in his mind.

"Don't worry my little blossom. Whether you like it or not, help is on the way."

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**A/N: A somewhat-cliffhanger. Well, I'm sorry to say that there will be a lot of them in my writing. I find them as good ways to end a chapter and to keep the reader interested. Anyways, don't forget to review! I'll try to update in the next week or so, but I'm not making any promises. It's summer! -FA **

**P.S. Can you guess who Terra was in her "other life" before "it happened" ? Let me know in a review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Battles and Nightmares

**A/N: Okay, here's Chapter Two. Hope you like it. I had fun writing this chapter. -FA**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.**

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Chapter 2: Battles and Nightmares

"Come in Beast Boy, we need your help!" Robin yelled into his communicator. He and the other Titans were still fighting the unknown white creature, and they were losing badly.

Robin dropped his communicator as the creature ran towards him once more, still in its hot, flaming form. The boy pulled out a freeze disk and thrust it at the being. It instantly put out some of the flames as it melted and temporarily froze the creature on the spot. This delayed it, but not for long. Before the ice could completely melt the creature merged its body with the ice crystals, changing its form again.

The creature turned to Raven, who was at the other end of the warehouse. It held its claws outstretched in front of itself and then shot several shards of ice at the girl.

Raven was ready for the attack. She surrounded the shards with her ebony aura, and then thrust them back towards the creature. The creature avoided each one that was thrown at it. After all the shards had fallen to the ground the creature suddenly created a massive ball of ice and sent it flying towards Raven. Unprepared this time, she felt the direct hit and was sent flying into the wall closest to her.

Behind where the now made of ice creature stood, Cyborg and Starfire were both aiming their powerful energies at it. Cyborg had his sonic cannon glowing blue in suspense and Starfire's starbolts in each hand were pulsing a bright green. The creature recognized their presence and turned around suddenly, throwing the two out of its way and causing them to fire off-target. The supreme blast of the combined energy blew a hole in the warehouse roof as Starfire and Cyborg fell across the floor.

Robin ran over to the monster again, hitting it repeatedly with his staff and chipping much ice off the creature's body. In the middle of his final hit the creature grabbed Robin's staff, making its body the same material. The boy pulled his staff out of its grip and continued to fight.

"Beast Boy to Robin," A sad voice came out of Robin's abandoned communicator, "I'm on my way."

Too busy fighting the shape-shifter, Robin didn't hear this message. He threw a kick towards the creature's chest, knocking it across the room. He ran over to the creature again and placed the tip of his staff at its neck.

"Who are you? _What_ are you?" The Boy Wonder panted, but still addressed the question with authority.

A computer-like voice was then emitted from the creature.

"Annihilate all allies of young Wilson. Annihilate all allies of young Wilson."

The creature then jumped up and lunged at Robin, who found himself now on the cold floor. The creature raised its fist, about to finish him off and-

BAM.

A green ram slammed its two horns into the creature's metal body, catching it by surprise. The creature flew across the warehouse, slamming into the far side of the wall with a clank.

The ram morphed into a green-skinned teenage boy.

"Need a hand?" Beast Boy helped Robin up. "You guys weren't at the Tower after I got your message. I searched all over town and-"

The creature was standing up now. It began to charge head first towards the two boys. After a few strides it was thrown to side again by two narrow but powerful beams of emerald energy. Starfire stepped into view and walked over to Beast Boy and Robin.

"Friend, you have returned!" The alien girl gave Beast Boy one of her famous bone-crushing hugs.

"Uh, Star," Robin interrupted. The creature was up again, but not for long. Another energy blast, this time a pale blue one, slammed the creature back into the cement wall.

"Oh, yeah, the Teen Titans are back in business!" Cyborg pumped his fist into the air.

"Nice one." Raven was up now. "But now it's my turn. Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" She summoned a black orb of dark energy around their opponent. As she lifted the orb into the air with her powers the creature's arms and legs flailed in the air, trying to find a way of escape. Slowly Raven shrank the orb, making it smaller and smaller until sparks started to crackle from the being's body. She then let go off the orb and the captive flew out.

"Annih…late…allies…Wiiilllsooon," Again the creature's voice spoke, almost broken now from the stress inside the bubble.

"Beast Boy, would you do the honor?" Raven said sarcastically. "Now that you've actually come back to help us."

Beast Boy nodded, ignoring the last comment. He then morphed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He roared, charging with his vicious reptilian mouth open towards the creature. When he reached it he paused, then grabbed it with his teeth and shook it with all his strength. Electricity crackled from their enemy's form.

"It was a droid," Robin said in an undertone as Beast Boy dropped the robot and morphed back into his normal self. "The question is, who did it belong to?" The leader frowned.

"Come on Rob, take a break," Cyborg patted his friend on the shoulder and yawned. "We've been fighting this thing for the past two days."

"Friend Cyborg is right," Starfire chimed in. "We must now relax and perform a celebration for our victory."

"So, Beast Boy, what happened with," Raven paused, then practically spat out the name, "_Terra_?"

"Yes, we are all very eager to hear that Terra is alive and has the safety," Starfire said eagerly.

But Beast Boy had a pained look in his eye. _Should I tell them?_ He pushed all thoughts of the geomancer out of his mind. He turned away.

"I don't want to talk about it."

xxxxxxx

_She was in a dark room. Many voices surrounded her, but through all her training she could not identify them._

"_Release me at once!" She cried out, her voice demanded angrily, hiding her fear._

_She heard a cold laugh, colder than any voice she had ever heard, and she thought she had lived with the best mastermind in the world. One voice spoke alone now._

"_Don't worry, Miss Wilson, as soon as your father gets here we will have this whole thing straightened out." There was that laugh again._

_Oh no. Her father. She might not have known who her captors were, but she knew the reason why she was there: she was the bait._

_She squirmed and realized that she was strapped onto a cold iron bed. She had no chance of escape. They had taken all of her weapons. She struggled in her bonds._

"_You know, come to think of it, we actually don't need to wait for your dear father after all." That voice. All of a sudden it seemed so familiar, but where did she know it from? "I believe we can squeeze her in right now, boys." Oh God. Were they going to rape her? "One moment please."_

_An intense bright light suddenly shone on the bed where she was being held. A hand came out of the surrounding darkness holding a vial of golden liquid._

"_Open up."_

_She opened her mouth to protest, but this was exactly what the man wanted. Before she knew it the liquid was being poured into her mouth. Instinctively she spat it out in the direction she assumed the man's face would be._

_Apparently she assumed correctly, because after she spat she heard a long string of swears._

"_Do you _want_ us to have to do this the hard way?" She could have sworn the man was smiling in the darkness. She then heard footsteps behind her followed by a sharp prick at the back of her soft neck._

_Suddenly a strange feeling overcame her. She felt everything, yet nothing. She felt like she could somehow take on these men, but she just couldn't move a muscle. A rush of warmth went through her body. Then the emotions ceased and the pain began._

_It felt like a million daggers had pierced through her body. She felt like her head would explode. A feeling of dizziness then went through her, and she lost her knowledge of up and down._

_She was able to hear a door open with a crash. A voice she knew all too well spoke._

"_Let her go, George."_

_It sounded like a fight was going on. There must have been some confusion, because soon she found that she was free. The bonds were gone._

_The pain just wouldn't stop, though. She would give anything, anything right now just to make it let up…_

_Now she was drifting, drifting…clouds surrounded her, dark clouds. Lighting flashed before her, followed by a rumble, and then a scream._

Tara woke up panting and drenched in cold sweat. She felt the back of her neck sub-consciously.

All a nightmare. Just a nightmare. A bad dream. But it had all seemed so…real.

That was because it _was_ real. Or it had been, once. The memory was still there. She could still hear the screams.

She breathed heavily as she saw a shadow pass down the hallway outside her room.

Tara quickly lay her head back down on her soft, green pillow. She snapped her eyes shut.

The person didn't enter her room, though. He simply peered through her doorway, then continued down the hall, sighing.

Tara sat up again as her foster brother left her view. This really was the best foster family she could have hoped for. So why did she feel so alone?

Tara knew that she should move on. Even though she did remember everything now, she should try now just to live a normal life. But against her mind's wishes, she still felt uneasy. It was still haunting her.

But it was just a dream, right? Sure, it actually might have happened, but it was in the past. It was all over now. She was here now. She was in her own room, she had a great family with her, and she was in her cozy bed.

Above all, she was safe, so she need not worry about anything for the moment. She lay back down.

She was safe.

For now.

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**A/N: I won't be able to update for a week or so now, because I'm going away. But don't worry, when I come back I'll have a whole other chapter ready to be posted! -FA**


	3. Chapter 3: Searching

**A/N: Finally, at long last I have been able to post this! I finished writing it a long time ago, but I've been so busy that I haven't really been able to type much. Most of my writing is in my notebook and hand-written, you see.**

**Diclaimer: (cries) I don't own Teen Titans! Wah!**

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Chapter 3: Searching

Finally, after all these years a breakthrough had been discovered.

They had finally gotten a hold on the girl's signal. As predicted, the side effects of the serum had come into play as a tracking device.

The man smiled as he strode down the dark hallways of Headquarters. All his colleagues were eagerly awaiting his presence in the meeting hall. They were all waiting for him to finally tell them of the plans he had been working on for fifteen years.

The Organization's large population of agents over the years had steadily decreased after the resignation of Slade Wilson. But things were about to change now. Now that the former agent's daughter had returned, his plan could finally come out of the dark and be set into action.

Of course, technically it had already begun. He had already sent his specialized droid after the girl's allies to make sure she couldn't worm her way out of their grasp. They were surely annihilated by now.

The leader of the Organization pulled open the two heavy metallic doors of the meeting hall and found him face-to-face with a table full of the seated members awaiting his announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen," He began, "It is time to end what we should have finished long ago. It is time for us to gain the prize and glory that should have been rightfully gained fifteen years ago."

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Robin sat at the main computer, typing away at multiple search engines on the Internet. There was something big going on behind the droid's attacks. Whoever sent the robot had a larger plan in mind, he was sure of it. The name "Wilson" that the droid had mentioned was the key to unlocking it all.

He sighed and then found himself yawning. All the others were still in bed. The battle yesterday had worn them out. Robin considered going back to bed as well, but resisted the urge. He always got up this early and besides, he had to find out what was going on. Terra being sighted, the mysterious droid…he needed to find some kind of lead.

He typed in his first search again:

WILSON.

He pressed the enter key. Just like before, millions of sites came up, none of what he was looking for.

Robert Wilson's Top Ten Cooking Tips…Wilson Cottages for Sale…Renaissance Painting Donated by the Wilson Family. There was absolutely nothing.

Robin edited his search. He now typed:

WILSON, ROBOTICS.

This brought up a somewhat better collection of sites. He clicked on the best one. It read: World's Greatest Robotics Experts: Wilson Smith, Tom Johansen, and Riley Lance.

It was no good. It was just a site for some dumb videogame convention.

Robin sighed again. Now he remembered why he didn't use Google that much. There were too many insignificant and useless pieces of information cluttering up your monitor.

He tried a different search engine this time, but no luck. A bed or even the couch was starting to sound pretty good to him right now.

Robin updated his screen one last time, this time simply playing around with words:

SECRET, ROBOTICS, WILSON.

Surprisingly, there were more close hits than he had expected. Unfortunately, none of them appeared to be what he was looking for.

But there was one interesting link that Robin hadn't tried out yet. Instead of the usual site name and an excerpt from the text there, all there was in the summary was a series of dashes. It reminded Robin of a sensor. It was as if the site was being protected from the average user's eye.

There were two possibilities for the situation: One, this really was a secret site and could contain important information, or Two, it was a site that could potentially damage a computer. In other words, it could hold viruses.

Robin finally decided that he would take that risk. He took a deep breath and moved his mouse to the link.

_If this is a virus site, Cyborg will definitely kill me later,_ he thought. He clicked the mysterious blue link and then shut his eyes, prepared for the worst.

It wasn't necessary. There was no ping of any errors made. Robin slowly opened his eyes again.

The entire screen was black. A single white stream of letters blinked across the screen: Loading.

Soon the Loading sign was replaced by a white box and the words "Password Required" above it.

Robin was an expert hacker. He could figure out the passwords to most blocked websites and programs in an instant. He typed in the first word that came to mind: Wilson.

ACCESS GRANTED.

After the page loaded the home page of the site came up. The title of the site at the top of the page read N. O. A. L. Database.

_A secret organization's site for their information,_ Robin thought. Now everything fell into place. The password Wilson that he used to get in was no coincidence. His mind began to click into action.

A possibility was that this "Wilson" person must have been a part of this organization at one time. An important member, or how otherwise would his or her name been used as the password to the site? He or she must have done something eventually that angered the group's highest member, causing the head to go after all his or her friends and family for revenge. Somehow, the Titans knew this "Wilson". But who was he or she?

Robin noticed a search box in the lower right hand corner of the page. He typed in the mysterious name once more.

After he pressed enter and saw the results the first name that appeared nearly shocked Robin right out of his seat. Instantly he pressed the emergency button to get the other Titans up.

When all of the team had assembled in the room, they all were surprised at the sudden disturbance. Robin finally spoke.

"Guys," He started slowly, "I think you all need to see this."

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Tara sat at a table at her once favorite pizza place. She wore beige capris, a red tank top, and her favorite brown hiking boots. Even though it was a bit early (7:37 to be exact) she was supposed to meet Liz and Ashley there. Her foster mom told her that they had called while she was in bed. Unfortunately, they were running a bit late, and Tara was starting to get annoyed. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before. The nightmare had continued to haunt her dreams.

Tara surveyed the rest of the restaurant. She remembered when she and Titans ate here practically every Saturday. She would sit right next to Beast Boy, and he would make her laugh over and over again.

Now there wasn't very many here this Saturday morning, seeing as it was in the early hours. One man read a newspaper at the table next to hers and across the pavement an apparent college student sat at another table, scrawling at a piece of paper to get an essay done.

The female student left soon, though, sighing in frustration. It was just Tara and the man now. She sighed. There was always much more business in the afternoon, when the Titans sometimes came to eat out.

But where were her _new_ friends? Had she gotten the time wrong or something?

Tara glanced over at the man reading the paper. A glint of metal flashed in his right ear.

No. Not yet. They couldn't have found her…

The man folded his paper and stood up. He started to walk in her direction.

Tara instantly forgot all about Liz and Ashley. She found herself standing up as well, avoiding eye contact with the man. She began to head towards the nearest exit calmly. Unfortunately, what started off as a steady walk soon broke into a run. She heard the man behind her start to speed up as well.

Tara reached the door, but not before the agent. He jumped in front of the girl with ease.

"Hello, Rosie. Long time no see," The man grinned evilly.

Tara grimaced. Her hands suddenly glowed gold and she raised them into the air.

Terra was back. Two boulders were summoned and she sent them crashing towards the man's head.

The man was quicker than her. He dodged each one.

Terra had no choice then. She summoned another large rock and jumped on it. She flew as fast as she could into the sky and away from the man.

She had to go to them. There was no other option. She had to go to the Titans.

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**A/N: Don't forget to review! I'll update once I have at least two new ones! No flames, please! -FA**


	4. Chapter 4: A Brief Reunion

**A/N: In case you haven't noticed, I've now edited the ending of this chapter. Some readers made the observation that Beast Boy was a bit Out of Character in the way he just accepted Terra. Thanks to _loveatfirstterra_ for catching my plot error! This new ending I have put in seems to flow better with the original storyline I have been planning. However, I do miss my little Rob/Star moment... maybe I'll put in something special later on in the story for those readers who liked it (_GraysonGirl_, _ReadingChick_). _-FA_**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Teen Titans.**

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Chapter 4: A Brief Reunion

_So she was running to the Titans now,_ Slade thought, _Foolish girl. It will do her no good._ Had he taught her nothing?

He snapped another weapon into his belt.

_Current events must come into consideration. It is time for a change in plans._

After his belt was loaded Slade picked up his staff. He quickly retracted it with a swift movement and placed the small object in his belt as well, right in a small compartment in the circular buckle in the center. Pausing, he grabbed a selection of mysterious other weapons as well off a nearby shelf: a slender black gun with a silver "D" engraved, a shining metallic ball, and peculiar object about the size of his fist that resembled a small communicator.

He had not used these for years, which showed through the condition of the shelf. The shelf that they had been set to rest on was very dusty and appeared not to have been touched for decades. If the gadgets still worked it would be a miracle. Slade set his old weapons in his belt.

"That should be quite enough, Master Slade." An elderly butler entered the room. "You are merely bringing Rose to your primary safe house. Are you expecting a struggle, or even worse a fight?"

"Wintergreen, I am simply being precautious," Slade responded. "Not only do my reliable sources tell me that she has been discovered, but the Teen Titans have been brought into the picture also."

His friend arched his eyebrows and then squinted as his forehead wrinkled in thought.

"You need not bother yourself with the matter, my friend. All I have asked of you is that you take care of this place while I'm away."

Wintergreen shook his head and chuckled as he turned with the back of his white head fading as the old man left the room. "You're hopeless, Wilson."

"And I'm quite proud of it, thank you," Slade shouted after him.

Turning back to his own work, Slade took the black gun out of his belt and took a good look at it.

_It's been too long_, the mastermind thought, _far too long_.

He was ready. The plan was simple: retrieve Rose/Terra from Titans Tower by all means necessary, and then manage to avoid the Titans and N.O.A. while getting her to a safe place. What happened from there: He was still working on it.

Slade only hoped that the Titans were in good moods today. After what Beast Boy did to his last robot double…unfortunately, Slade couldn't afford the luxury of one this time.

xxxxxxxxxx

**Agent: Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke the Terminator.**

"Well, it's not like it exactly a popular name, is it?" Raven broke the silence.

"It's him," Beast Boy whispered. "It's got to be."

"We need to get more information before we draw conclusions," Robin announced, although his fist clenched at the though that Slade could be connected to their encounter with the droid. "This site is the only lead we have so far. We need to investigate this 'N. O. A. L." as soon as possible."

"I told you, it's him!" Beast Boy spoke louder, annoyed. "One of his robot doubles attacked me right after Terra was angry and left the Tower!"

"What the heck?! You took her _here_? You saw Slade? Why didn't you tell us this _before_, BB?" Cyborg narrowed his eyes at his green friend.

"You never seemed to care about Terra _before_!" Beast Boy yelled back.

"Please, friends," Starfire interrupted, looking upset. "Let us make this conversation one that is the civil." She looked to Robin and Raven's direction for help.

"She's right, you two. Arguing doesn't solve anything," Raven added.

"It's in the past. But Beast Boy, will you tell us _now_ what exactly happened after you talked to Terra?" Robin crossed him arms.

"It was just a robot, what does it matter? All it did was try to convince me that Terra didn't want to remember me," He snapped, then paused before he added, "Before I kicked its butt."

"It does matter," Robin said sternly, "This is the first activity we've seen from him since Trigon."

"And," Cyborg added, "If he was trying to steer you away from Terra-"

"Friend," Starfire interrupted. "You still have not notified us of the details of your discovery of friend Terra's return. Please, do share. Where is she? Was she not happy to see you?"

"I told you!" Beast Boy yelled. "She doesn't want to come back-"

BANG. BANG.

It sounded like something was pounding at the front door of the Tower. Someone or something was trying to get in.

"Titans, be ready," Robin assumed a fighting stance as he and the Titans neared the door.

The door crashed open. A skinny blond girl in a bright red tank top and tan capris stumbled in, her hands bearing a now fading gold-colored glow. Her entire body was drenched in sweat.

"What-"

"I don't believe it!"

"Terra?"

"Sorry about the door," Terra panted. She looked wiped out and very frightened. The girl stole a glance at Beast Boy, but she looked away quickly.

"Terra! You are no longer made of rock!" Starfire thrust herself towards Terra, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

"That's three times now that you've nearly broken my limbs, Starfire," The girl laughed as she struggled to breathe.

"Oops," Starfire let go quickly.

"Well, welcome back," Cyborg smiled.

"We never did get the chance to thank you for what you did, you know, for saving the city and all." Robin held out his hand.

Terra turned pink as she took it.

"Um, no problem."

The only Titans who weren't falling over their long-lost teammate were Raven and Beast Boy. Beast Boy had stiffened ever since Terra had burst in, and Raven was wearing a scowl. She still hadn't gotten over the fact that Terra had fooled and betrayed them all, then tried to destroy them a while back.

"Uh, hi Beast Boy, Raven," Terra walked over to the two.

"What do you even think you're doing?" Raven snapped at the blond girl. Terra's face fell. "You betray us, try to kill us, break Beast Boy's heart _twice_, and now you expect us to welcome you back here with open arms?"

Beast Boy looked from Raven to Terra. Something she had said…

"How did you know about…?"

"It's kind of hard to miss. Plus, I'm an empath, remember?" Raven stated matter-of-factly.

Suddenly a silence filled the room.

"So," Cyborg cut in. "BB wasn't hallucinating."

It took Terra a while to understand what he meant.

"What- oh- well, no, he wasn't," She said quietly.

More silence.

Beast Boy sucked in air. "Why did you do it?"

Terra hung her head. "I- I don't know."

The other Titans just stared at them now.

"There's gotta be a reason you lied to me."

"I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"A lot of things."

"Such as…?"

"That you wouldn't accept me back -"

"Why would you even think of such a thing?" Beast Boy shouted. "We actually cared about you. _I_ cared about you. I visited your statue practically every day, did you know that?"

"I-"

"And did you realize that I abandoned a mission to go after you once you came back to life?"

"I-"

Beast Boy took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He looked away from Terra.

"Now is not the time for personal reunions, Beast Boy. We do have business to attend to." Robin said sternly, but he gave his friend a sympathetic look, "Terra, what do you know about this man…" He gestured to the webpage on the Tower's computer, "…and this website?"

Terra's face fell, then jerked back to normal, but not before Raven sensed the fear pulsing through her veins.

xxxxxxxxxx

Slade stood on top of the Titans' roof. He would break into the Tower momentarily, but for now he had to wait. As he stared out into the clear blue sky slowly fading to purple, one instinctive thought crossed his mind:

They knew he was here.

* * *

A/N: Now that summer's here, I'll probably be updating this story more. It won't be a much longer wait until Chapter 5 guys, don't worry! _-FA_


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